Starting with spring semester on Jan. 7, many classes will run on a Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday schedule, rather than the traditional Monday, Wednesday, Friday or Monday through Friday schedule.

Many students will be able to enroll in a full-time load of classes while attending college four days per week instead of the traditional five days per week.

“We expect it will save our students both time and money,” said Gene Couch, SCC vice president for instruction and student services.

After studying the research and success rate of other colleges that converted to a four-day week, Southwestern faculty and administration designed their new schedule to respond to student economic, family and work commitments.

“In tough economic times we realize that our students may need to work more hours. So access was a key factor in our new scheduling,” said SCC President Cecil Groves.

According to Couch, “It’s been said that, ‘Education is thousands of years of tradition bound in hundreds of years of bureaucracy.’ Our goal at Southwestern is to break down that bureaucracy. We’ve reconceptualized the traditional college schedule to benefit our students.”

Previously, a typical schedule might include classes on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays that last an hour and 15 minutes. Those will be consolidated into lengthened Monday and Wednesday classes.

“This will eliminate students having to come to campus on Fridays,” said Couch. “It should free up their time and also save them some gas money.”

M-W-F classes will now fit the same template as Tuesday-Thursday classes, he said. “There we work the same amount of credit hours into a two-day week.”

The new schedule leaves Fridays open for extended 3-hour class formats like those currently offered in the evening. For instance, morning classes will be from 8-11 a.m. with afternoon classes from noon to 3 p.m.

Students may have work or family obligations Monday through Thursday and they could balance those commitments with college courses on Fridays. Some students and faculty prefer one-day classes where they can focus their attention on the course for an extended period of time, Couch said.

“By taking Friday-only classes, along with online courses, students can still complete their associate’s degree in two years,” Couch said.

“We are not doing anything less or compromising our students’ educational experience,” Groves said. “We’re simply allowing them better access.”

Couch said the college continues to extend its online courses which complements the move to help students save time and money. “Our online students tell us they really like working from home and setting their own schedules to do their course work. Many of them work online late at night if they have a day job or have to get their kids to bed.”

Some programs, such as health sciences, may not change to a four-day or one-day schedule design. These programs may have clinical or coursework expectations that require a five-day approach.

“At the end of the spring semester, we’ll evaluate the schedule change. If students continue to do well in their courses and feel that the college schedule meets their needs, then the new schedule may become the traditional schedule at Southwestern,” Groves said.

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